Automatic safety gas valve



June 29', 1937; E. E. GREEN Auwouuwsnmy GASVQLVE Filed Nov. 15', 1955 sSheets-Sheet 1 mmvrox BY 2 ATTORNEY June 29, 1937. E. E.-GREEN I 7AUTOMATIC SAFETY GAS VALVE Filed Nov. 15,A1935 s Sheets-Sheet 2 A t H 1a V a INVENTOR. v

ATTQRNEY Iain IIIllflllll/I/lfl/ltlffl/If! E; E. GREEN AUTOIATIG sAFgTYi GAS VALVE filed Nov. 15, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 iii-min;

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ATTORNEY Patented I June 29, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,085,581AUTOMATIC SAFETY GAS VALVE EdwardE. Green, Pittsburgh, rt. ApplicationNovember15, 1935, Serial No. 49,914 2 Claims. (01. 217-70) Thisinvention relates to safety valves and more in particular to the type ofvalves which are used in connection with hot water heaters for boilers,hot water storage heaters or instantaneone automatic hot water heaterswhich use gas as a fuel. I

The above mentioned types of gas heated water heaters are nearly .alwaysthermostatically controlled and some of these heaters are equipped withtwo thermostats, one which controls the supply of gas to the main gasburners and one which controls the usual pilot light.

In instantaneous automatic hot water heaters hot water is providedwhenever a tap isopened l5 and it operates by means of an-actuatingmecha-,

nism in a hydrostatic valve which. opens the gas valve when the wateristurned on and which closes the gas valve when the tap is closed.

' Although, in general, ,these types of water heat- 0 ers are consideredsafe from explosions and fires,

nevertheless acertain degree ofdanger exists, for. instance, whencleaningor repairing the interior of the heater. without turningofi themain .sup-,-

ply ofgas.

5 Ordinarily, no danger exists when the main i supply'of gas is turnedofi while repairing, etc., .but often this is neglected and minorrepairing is attempted with the main gas supply not turned ofi. Ofcourse, in order to repair or clean the in- 30 terior of a heater it isnecessary to open the heater door and as long as no one draws water inthe building it would not be dangerous to do that.

But supposing a person draws water, not knowing that someone isrepairing the heater, that 35 moment the main gassupply is turned on bymeans of the hydrostatic valve and since the pilot light is stillburning the gas escaping from the main burners will ignite and violentflames will surround the heating chamber until the water is 40 againturned off, but, in consequence serious burns may occur to the personmanipulating the heater, as will be understood.

One of the..ob,iects of this invention is to provide an improved type ofautomatic control of 45 the main gas supply which prevents accidents asabove described. Another object of this invention is to provide animproved type of gas valve which automatically closes thegas supply lineto the main burners 50 when the heater door is opened and whichautomatically opens the gas supply line to the main burners when theheater door is closed.

Still another object of the invention is to pro- 55 vide a safety valvewhich will automatically cut off the supply of gas to the main burnerwhen the heater door is opened but will permit a supply of gas for thepilot light.

Yet another object of theinvention is the provision of an automaticsafety valve'which is 5 simple in construction, positive in operationand which can be manufactured at relatively small cost.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing descripl0 tion considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

f Figure 1 is a sectional view of a valve constructed according to myinvention with some parts shown in elevation, allvalves are shown in 1closed position and the door of the water heater is shown open.

Figure 2 is an outline view of Figure 1 with parts of the interiorexposed to show all the valves open and the door of the water heater isshown in closed position.

Figure 3 is a top outlineview of Figure I.

Figure 4 is .a sectional detail view along line 4-4 in Figure .1. J

, Figure 5' is a perspective view of the wedge member which retainsthe'pilot light valve open, if so desired, while repairing or testingthe heater.

, Figure 6 is a diagrammatic detail view of the vital parts andconnections of an instantaneous,

type water heater including my improved valve.

Reference being had to the drawings, the valve built in accord with myinvention consists of a body Ill having inlet and outlet connections IIand I2 respectively and a pair of identical and interiorly threadednecks l3 and I4 into which are screwed valve bonnets IS.

The said bonnet l5 serves as a support and guide for the valve stem i6and comprises 'a circular disc H which merges at one end into apolygonal hub portion I8 and at the other end 40 into an externallythreaded extension l9 which is recessed to form a stub end 20.

The bonnet I5 is also provided with a centrally bored and threadedaperture ii and a small aperture 22, the first threaded aperture 2| 26made of any suitable material. This gasket 26 is placed in the recess 25and held from movement by the threaded shank 21, which in this exampleis formed integrally with the valve retainer 24, and the nut 28.

The said valve retainer 24 is also provided with a circular shoulder 29of approximately the same diameter as the stubend 20, so as toaccommodate one end of the coiled compression spring 30, when inassembled position. The outer end 3| of the shank portion of the valvestem I6 is threaded to receive the nut 32 and the lock-nut 33.

Formed integrally with the body H) are walls 35 and 36 which divide thebody into three distinctive compartments 31, 38 and 39. The wall 35 isprovided with circular ports 40 and 4| located one above the other-asshown and each port faces the respective valve stem mechanism and comesin horizontal alignment with the same so as to cooperate with the gasket26 and provide a leakproof joint when closed.

The said valve body I0 is also provided with a substantially smallinternally threaded port hole I 42 which communicates with compartment3'! and in which is screwed the pilot .light valve 43 of usual design bymeans-of which the gas supply to the pilot light 44 may be manuallyturned on or oil? and since there is no novelty in such valve per se adetailed view thereof is therefore not shown.

The valve mechanism A, facing the door 45, is actuated by means of abell-crank lever 46 of strip metal, the upper part of which is providedwith a twist 41 and a bifurcated extremity 48 which engages therebetweenthe valve stem l6.

The nut 32 and the lock-nut 33 serve as an ad, Justmentand regulatingmedium for the valve stem l6.

The said bell-crank lever 46 is mounted for The valve mechanism B whichis located opposite the valve mechanism A heretofore described is ofidentical construction as said valve mechanism A and in the constructionshown it will be seen that both mechanisms are of the same size so as toeliminate too many different 7 parts, thuspermitting considerableeconomy in manufacturing.

Referring now to the valve mechanism B, in addition to the parts alreadydescribed, the same comprises a twisted lever 54, mounted for pivotalmovement in the slotted boss 55, which is preferably integral with thebody I0. The upper end of said lever 54 has a bifurcation 56 to permitfree entrance of the stud 51 which engages the threaded hole 58 of theboss 59, as shown.

A thermostat 60, capable to control the valve mechanism B, is attachedto the upper portion v the wedge member 10 light, but owing to the .InFigure 5 of the drawings there is shown a j wedge member 10 which servesas a means to retain the valve in open position while adjusting orrepairing, with the pilot light not burning. This is accomplished bymoving said wedge member upwardly so that the widened part II comesbetween the inner face 12 of the bifurcated lower end 13 of the lever 54and the top of the stufiing box gland 23. In that position, the valvewill be held open indefinitely provided, of course, that the pilot lightis not burning.

After the attendant completes adjustments etc., he again lights thepilot light and since the same is in close proximity of the thermostat60 the heat of the pilot light will cause the legs and 66 to spreadapart. This change of configuration of the thermostat provides the forceto retain the valve open as long as the pilot light burns. It is notnecessary to manuallyrelease after lighting the pilot change ofconfiguration of the thermostat the bifurcated lower end 13 of lever 54pushes against the nut 32 thereby compressing spring 30 and openingvalve B, thus creating a gap between the gland 23 and nut 32, which inturn releases the wedge member 10 from its hold and drops down to itsnormal position.

It will be obvious' with such arrangement a positive and effective meansis provided for preventing gas from escaping from the pilot light at alltimes.

Referring again to the valve mechanism A, the same is being actuated bythe heater door 45 which is provided with usual hinges l5 and a handle16 to facilitate opening or closing of the same.

As clearly illustrated in Figure 2 said door 45,

when in closed position, is in contact with the wheel 52 of thebell-crank lever 46,, which in turn raises the valve from its seat, butwhen the door is opened the valve is automatically closed by means ofcoil spring 30.

In general, the diagrammatic arrangement of the various parts of anautomatic hot water'heater (see Figure 6) as'used in connection with mysafety valve and its operation is as follows:

It is assumed that the water pipes are filled with cold water suppliedby an existing water line.

The cold water. enters at 11 and the gas enters at 18; the pilotlight isburning and therefore the valve B is in open position; the heater dooris closed, therefore the valve A is open.

Supposing someone in the building opens a hot water spigot, in thatinstant the piston (not shown) in the water motor 19 opens a water pressure operated gas valve (not shown) and since the valves A and B of mysafety valve are also open, the gas from the main supply is permitted togo through the pipe line 80, to the gas distributing ring 8| and to theseries of burners 82. The gas escaping from the burners is ignited bythe pilot light 44. The violent flames of the gas burners 82 strike theinner wall of the coneshaped receptacle 83 which in turn rapidly heatsthe cold water circulating in the spiral coil 84 secured to the outerwall 85 of receptacle 83 and the lower end of which is connected bypipes 86 to the outlet end 81 of the water motor 19.

The upper end 88 of said spiral coil 84 connects to fin-clad pipes 89,and a pipe line 9|] joins the main thermostat housing 9| (not detailed)at one end or inlet 92 and the outlet 93 thereof connects to the variousfixtures which are intended to supply hot water.

As will be apparent to those versed in the art, a gas safety valve builtand operated along the lines described ofiers an entirely safe gasheated Water heater under all conditions.

While the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of myinvention, I do not wish to limit myself strictly to the mechanicaldetails herein illustrated, since manifestly the same can be variedwithout departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in theappended claims. l

I claim:-

1. A valve comprising a casing having open endsadapted for connectionwith pipe sections, a partition in said casing extending longitudinallytherein and provided with a lateral extension intermediate its length,said partition and its extension dividing the casing into end chambersconstituting inlet and outlet chambers and an intermediate chamber atone side of the end chambers in overlapping relation thereto, saidintermediate chamber having its end portions in communication with theend chambers through ports formed in the partition, valves for closingthe ports mounted in the outlet chamber and the intermediate chamber andhaving stems extending laterally of the casing and slidably engagedthrough walls thereof at opposite sides of the casing for outwardmovement to unseat the Valves, springs yieldably holding the valvesclosed, fulcrums carried by the casing externally there of, leverspivoted to said fulcrums and extending longitudinally of the casing, onelever having one end engaging the stem of the valve in the outletchamber and its other end free, the other lever having one end engagingthe stem of the valve in the intermediate chamber and its other endbifurcated, a stud projecting from said casing through the bifurcatedend of the second lever, and a thermostat carried by said stud andengaging the bifurcated end of the second lever for moving the secondlever in a direction to open the valve in the intermediate chamber.

2. A valve comprising a casing having an in termediate chamber and endchambers communicating with opposite end portions of the intermediatechamber through ports, a valve yieldably held in closing relation to theport between the intermediate chamber and one end chamber and having astem projecting laterally from the casing at one side thereof, a valveyieldably. held in closing relation to the port between the intermediatechamber and the other end chamber and having a stem projecting laterallyfrom the casing at the other side than the stem of the first valve,fulcrums carried by said casing in spaced relation to the stemslongitudinally of the casing, levers pivoted to said fulcrums andextending longitudinally of the casing and each having an ,end portionconnected'with the stem of a valve to open the valve when pressure isapplied to the other end of the lever, the other end of one lever beingfree, a pin projecting from said casing adjacent the second end of theother lever, and a thermostat carried by said pin and engaging thesecond end of the last mentioned lever for imparting movement to thelever and opening the cooperating valve when the thermostat is expandedby heat.

EDWARD E. GREEN.

